AGRIGENTO (ITALPRESS) – Investigations into the rural mafia continue, which yesterday led to the arrest of five people in the province of Agrigento. At the same time as carrying out a precautionary measure ordered by the judicial authority of Palermo, the State Police officers carried out a series of searches on people believed to be close to those arrested, as well as multiple, targeted checks of a veterinary and hygienic nature. health care for agricultural companies and livestock farms operating in the area of Santa Margherita del Belice, Montevago and Sambuca di Sicilia. The investigations are conducted by the Agrigento Police Headquarters, with the support of the Crime Prevention Departments of the State Police, and the Department of Health Activities and Epidemiological Observatory of Palermo, Agrigento and Trapani.
The checks concerned, in particular, health checks in four sheep factories, two dairies and a local milk depot in the municipality of Santa Margherita Belice. In this regard, the veterinary doctors, constantly supported by the policemen of the Central Operational Service, of the Sisco of Palermo and of the Mobile Squads of Agrigento and Palermo, have noted – within one of the monitored sheepfolds – the mismatch between the consistency of the registered animals in the National Database of Zootechnical Registries, and the actual number of animals present, as approximately 40 adult animals were absent and the presence of approximately 100 unidentified sheep over the age of six months and approximately 30 with incomplete identification was also noted.
Furthermore, within another sheep farm, the veterinarians ascertained that the site where the animals were present does not appear to be registered in the National Database with a regular registration number, as the owner of the farm did not request any registration of the grazing code outside the company headquarters. Furthermore, in the same sheepfold the incorrect identification of around a hundred animals was detected and therefore the veterinarians ordered the immediate blocking of movements to or from the activity. Similarly, at the end of a check in a company in Agrigento, the veterinary staff found the presence of 53 heads of sheep without the so-called “accompanying document” and therefore ordered the immediate blocking of their movements until the non-compliances were resolved. found.
The investigations are part of a broader law enforcement action, coordinated by the SCO and the State Police, against criminal interference in the agro-pastoral sector and in the agri-food chain, also to protect public health.
– photo: screenshot from State Police press office video –
(ITALPRESS).
